Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from the Borough Commander, and from the Executive Director of Environmental and Community Services. 

Apologies were also received from The Head of Trading Standards and Community Safety, the LBB Assistant Director for Housing Needs, and from Mr Terry Belcher. 

 Apologies were also received from Anne Ball from MOPAC, and Laurie Grasty.

Jane Bailey (LBB Director of Education) gave advance notice that she would be arriving late due to attendance at an earlier meeting.

Apologies were also received from Colin Powell from the London Ambulance Service; Conal Percy attended as substitute.

Mr Terry Belcher was not in attendance, but had notified the committee clerk that on the previous draft minutes he had not been included in the list of attendees. The Committee Clerk agreed to address this.

With this adjustment the minutes were agreed as a correct record. 

The Group noted the Matters Arising report.

It was confirmed that an IOM Co-ordinator had now been appointed.

The other matters arising would be addressed during the course of the meeting, either in the sub group updates, or the Chairman’s update.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions to the Safer Bromley Partnership Strategic Group should be received in writing 4 working days before the date of the meeting. Therefore please ensure questions are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5.00pm on 9^th September 2016.

No questions were received.

The Chairman’s update was provided by the Deputy Borough Police Commander, Superintendent Trevor Lawry.

The Group heard that new directions for priorities had not been received from the London Mayor’s office. In view of this performance was still being measured against the MOPAC 7 targets. In the MET generally, the performance levels against MOPAC 7 were now either slowing or reversing; this was not the case in Bromley where there was now a 21% reduction in overall crime. These figures were positive and encouraging. Conversely, detection rates had declined slightly.

Bromley police were in the process of adopting restorative justice practices. Mayoral funding had been provided for this. It was felt that it would take time for the new practices to be reflected in the figures. 

Bromley police intended to add one Ward Officer to each Ward, so that each Ward would have two Ward Officers; this process had been started, and some wards were already operating with two Ward Officers. PCSO’s still worked with Ward Officers, and it was the case that Bromley police were over allocation. The PCSO’s had been asked by the MET to identify where they would prefer to be based, as an exercise to redistribute resources was taking place. The extra PCSO’s had been used to bolster the Town Centre Team and to promote the uptake of ‘Smart Water’. Due to the successful uptake of ‘Smart Water’ in Bromley, extra kits had been supplied.

There was no further news on the possible transition to a BCU model. Two pilots had been undertaken, but in the light of no decisions being made for Bromley police, they would continue to operate as an individual entity, without any mergers.

RESOLVED that the Chairman’s update be noted.  

The Safer Neighbourhood Board update was provided jointly by Cllr Kate Lymer and Cllr Tim Stevens.

Funding allocation from MOPAC for the next financial year had been agreed, and the Board had utilised the full allocation of funding for the previous two years. There were lots of positives to report in that the SNB meetings were regular and well attended. Cllr Stevens expressed concern that the Bromley SNB meetings may not be properly representing the community. This was something that would need to be addressed.

The Group were reminded that the Crime Summit would be taking place on Saturday 17^th September at 9.30am. The Borough Police Commander would be speaking, along with guest speaker Ron Dobson, who was the Commissioner of London Fire Brigade.  Bromley Youth Council would be presenting their ‘SAFE’ Campaign.

Superintendent Lawry suggested that if the SNB wanted to make progress with diversity issues, then contact should be made with Inspector Gary Byfield, who had recently run a meeting where 70 different faith group leaders had attended, and was looking to establish a network of meetings with faith leaders.

The next meeting of the SNB would be located in the Kelsey Park ward, and details would follow on the Board’s Facebook Page.       

The final report version will be tabled at the meeting.

The update concerning this was provided by Amanda Mumford. It was noted that no further comments or suggestions had been made to amend the latest version of the SBP Strategic Assessment Document. The aim now was to finalise and publish, then the final document would be presented to the Strategic Group.

The Chairman felt that the work undertaken on the document to date, would place the Group in a strong position when Mayoral priorities were finalised. Members discussed how many copies of the final document should be printed. Some Group members felt that there was no requirement to print hard copies, and that publishing online would be adequate. The Chairman felt that some hard copies would be required to provide for those members of the public that may not have internet access. The Chairman suggested that Andrew Rogers be contacted to discuss the dissemination of the final document in public libraries. It was anticipated that the document would be published on the Council website within 1-2 months.   

RESOLVED that the SBP Strategic Assessment Strategy Document  be finalised, presented to the SBP, and published.

It was also RESOLVED that the main medium for publication would be online, but that some hard copies would need to be placed in public places like libraries.  

Ms Roberts referred to minute 64 of the Matters Arising report concerning the setting up of the DV and VAWG Strategic Group. It was noted that this group was having its first meeting in October, and that Superintendent Lawry would be drafting the Terms of Reference. It was noted that the MARAC Steering Group referred to in the matters arising report had now been set up.

Ms Roberts informed the Strategic Group that the DHR Task and Finish Group had met the previous day (14^th September). The 16 Home Office recommendations had now been completed, and would be sent to the Home Office after sign off from the SBP. 

A report on domestic violence and violence against women and girls was presented by Victoria Roberts, the Interim DV and VAWG Commissioner.

It was noted that the Bromley Domestic Violence Advocacy Project was provided by Victim Support, and that they had been tasked with providing a quarterly report based on 6 key data sets.

It had been identified that the main referral source was directly from the police, and most of the victims came from the 26-35 age range. Concerning postcodes, most of the referrals came from the BR5 and BR2 post code areas. In terms of crime type, the primary crime type associated with DV was assault with actual bodily harm.

The LBB Assistant Director for Public Protection wondered why there had been an increase in the number of referrals for domestic abuse. It was felt that the reason for this was not that DV was increasing, but rather that the service had been refreshed, and that there was now a greater awareness of how to report DV, and of the relevant support services that could be provided. The Chairman was also pleased to note the number of referrals coming from the ‘Bromley One Stop Shop’, and from self-referrals.

The Violence against Women and Girls Strategy 2016-2019 had been circulated to members of the Group by email prior to the meeting. Questions or comments from SBP Group members concerning the strategy should be emailed to Victoria Roberts by close of play on 30^th September 2016. It was anticipated that the Strategy would be launched on 25^th November, supported by public awareness campaigns. 

Ms Roberts referenced the report that had been looked at by the Executive the previous evening. This was the Gateway Review Report on Domestic Violence Against Women and Girls Services. 

The report outlined key recommendations and a proposed timetable for the commissioning of the Domestic Violence (DV) and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) services in the London Borough of Bromley. The funding would be entirely dependent on the success of MOPAC bids that would be submitted. The current contracts expire on the 31 March 2017.

Members of the Executive were asked to:

·  Agree that officers market test the Domestic Violence and Violence Against Women and Girls Services, beginning a formal procurement process offering the service as a single contract from 1st April 2017, for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 108a

The LBB Assistant Director for Public Protection had been appointed as the Chair of the IOM Board, and also as the Lead for the SBP IOM sub group.

He stated that the plan going forward was to identify key partners. He noted that Helen Andrews from the police had been supportive, but that support from the CRC had been patchy; this was something that would need to be picked up.

It was planned that the IOM Sub Group would meet prior to the next SBP meeting, and that the minutes of the meeting provided to the SBP.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the next meeting of the IOM sub group be provided to the SBP.    

The Youth Offending Service and Gangs update was provided by Jane Bailey, LBB Director for Education.

The YOS had been tasked with finalising a strategy plan that had to be submitted to the Youth Justice Board by the end of September. The Department for Justice had expressed the view that LBB were now successfully addressing the areas that had previously been identified as requiring improvement. This being the case, LBB were no longer classified as a priority category. Another inspection was expected by HMIP sometime in November 2016.

Closer integration was required between the Youth Service, and the Youth Offending Service.

The Director explained that a ‘Gangs Panel’ was in place that dealt with operational work, and matters of immediate concern.  Also in existence was a separate ‘Strategy Management Group’  It was hoped that more integration and communication could be achieved to enhance the relationship between these two groups. It was desirable that schools should be brought on board to be part of the Strategic Management Gangs Board, as the capability did not currently exist to look at the whole school community.

The Director felt that the work done by Growing Against Violence (GAV) was powerful, and it was hoped that this would continue.

The Chairman indicated that he had been asked to lead on Child Sexual Exploitation, Gangs and Missing Children, and that he was working on plans to coherently link up all three areas.   

The Group were advised that the LBB Assistant Director for Street Scene, Green Space and Public Protection had been appointed as the sub group lead for Prevent, as well as the overall Lead for the Council. He advised that the Prevent Action Plan would be presented to the Corporate Leadership Team on September 20^th, and to the Public Protection and Safety, Policy Development and Scrutiny Committee on September 28^th.  

The update was provided by the LBB Assistant Director for Street Scene, Greenspace and Public Protection. This was because the previous lead, former Borough Fire Commander Daniel Cartwright had moved to a different post. It was envisaged that the new Borough Fire Commander Sally Cartwright, would lead this group in due course.

The Group heard that a successful operation with the police had been undertaken on 14^th September, targeting the dumping of waste without a licence; two vehicles had been seized. The vehicles would either be crushed, or could be redeemed at a cost of £300.00 each. In total 20 vehicles had been stopped and investigated along the ‘Mad Mile’.

Operations were ongoing against fly tipping and littering. 

When the sub-group updates were completed, the Chairman identified the following actions for resolution:

RESOLVED that:

(1) Sub-group Leads should draw up meeting dates for the next year

(2) The sub-group Leads should draw up Action Plans for the next 3 years, and have these ready to present to the SBP at the next meeting in December

(3) A standard report template should exist for sub groups to use

(4)  The Chairman offered to draft the report template

No one was in attendance to provide the Communications update.

Anne Ball from MOPAC was not able to attend the meeting in person, but provided the following written update beforehand and this was read and noted by the Group.

Policing and Crime Plan

Police and Crime Plans are a statutory requirement for all police force areas introduced as part of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act  2011. 

The Policing and Crime Plan currently being drafted will cover the  new Mayoral period 2017- 2021. It must be published by the 31^st March and it must have public consultation (12 weeks). This is likely to be from Nov through to Jan.

LCPF funding

The quarter 2  LCPF return is due on Monday 10^th October.  A decision on future borough funding will be made and communicated to Boroughs by early October. 

Link to MOPAC / Mayor website

https://www.london.gov.uk/media-centre/mayors-press-releases?topic=1402&order=DESC&url=

There are some interesting articles, in particular one on the 27^th July regarding Hate Crime;  one on the 13/7 on Knife Crime;  one of the 21^st July regarding neighbourhood policing and one on Child House.

It was noted that Anne Ball’s contract had been extended to October 2017, and would continue to be the single point of contact to MOPAC for Bromley.

The Chairman felt that a MOPAC update should be a standing item on the agenda for the foreseeable future.

Conal Percy from the London Ambulance Service informed the Group that a Pan London referral service for domestic abuse had been developed by agreement between LAS and Women’s Aid. There was also a brief update on co-responding between LFB, MPS and LAS.

Co responding trials were now over. Both MPS and LFB had agreed to continue the schemes without hesitation.

LFB ran in Lambeth, Wandsworth, Merton and Newham. LFB are not making any firm decisions about extending the scheme until February next year.

MPS runs in Croydon, Enfield and Ealing – soon to be extended to Havering.

Mr Conal stated that what was important to the London Ambulance service was to increase the rate of survival from cardiac arrests. He also commented that LFB were good at providing basic life support.

Amanda Mumford commented on Resolution 1 in minute 92, where it was noted that Rob Vale would investigate where DV injury data was located, and if the data could be shared. The Group heard that MOPAC were seeking to establish London wide information sharing, which was in the process of being developed. No information data sharing mechanism from the PRUH was currently in place.   

RESOLVED that the MOPAC update be noted, and that  MOPAC and LAS updates be incorporated into future agendas as standing items.   

The next meeting is scheduled for December 8^th 2016.

The date of the next meeting was confirmed as 8^th December 2016.